Rescuers in race against time to find quake survivors

RESCUERS raced to pull survivors from collapsed buildings and deliver urgently needed food and water yesterday as strong aftershocks rattled earthquake-devastated islands in northern Indonesia.

Nearly three days after the huge quake, several people were pulled alive from the rubble, but they were greatly outnumbered by the dead as aid officials warned the toll could rise as rescuers reach remote areas.

French firefighters in worst-affected Nias island pulled a woman alive from the rubble of her home yesterday. Rescuers also pulled an 11-year-old boy from the wreckage of a five-storey building.